desensitize

desensitize
UK [diːˈsensətaɪz] / US [dɪˈsensəˌtaɪz] verb [transitive]
Word forms "desensitize":
present tense I/you/we/they desensitize he/she/it desensitizes present participle desensitizing past tense desensitized past participle desensitized
to make someone react less strongly to something such as violence or pain, often by making them experience it many times
desensitize someone to something:

Television desensitizes people to the horrors of war.


English dictionary. 2014.

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Look at other dictionaries:

  • desensitize — v. t. to rendered insensitive or less sensitive. Opposite of {sensitize}. Syn: deaden. [WordNet 1.5] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • desensitize — index drug, obtund Burton s Legal Thesaurus. William C. Burton. 2006 …   Law dictionary

  • desensitize — 1904; see DE (Cf. de ) do the opposite of + sensitize (see SENSITIVE (Cf. sensitive)). Originally of photography development; psychological sense is first recorded 1935. Related: Desensitized; desensitizing …   Etymology dictionary

  • desensitize — (Amer.) de·sen·si·tize || ‚diː sensɪtaɪz v. make less sensitive or reactive; cause to be less sensitive (also desensitise) …   English contemporary dictionary

  • desensitize — [v] dull anesthetize, benumb, deaden, make inactive, make less sensitive, numb, render insensible; concepts 130,240 …   New thesaurus

  • desensitize — (also desensitise) ► VERB 1) make less sensitive. 2) make indifferent to cruelty or suffering. DERIVATIVES desensitization noun …   English terms dictionary

  • desensitize — [dē sen′sə tīz΄] vt. desensitized, desensitizing 1. to take away the sensitivity of; make less sensitive 2. to make (a photographic plate or film) less sensitive to light 3. Med. to make (a person, animal, or tissue) nonreactive or nonallergic to …   English World dictionary

  • desensitize — v. (D; tr.) to desensitize to (to desensitize smb. to suffering) * * * [diː sensɪtaɪz] (D; tr.) to desensitize to (to desensitize smb. to suffer ing) …   Combinatory dictionary

  • desensitize — de|sen|si|tize also desensitise BrE [di:ˈsensıtaız] v [T] to make someone react less strongly to something by making them become used to it desensitize sb to sth ▪ Does TV desensitize people to violence? >desensitization [di:ˌsensıtaıˈzeıʃən… …   Dictionary of contemporary English

  • desensitize — [[t]di͟ːse̱nsɪtaɪz[/t]] desensitizes, desensitizing, desensitized VERB To desensitize someone means to cause them to react less strongly to things such as pain, anxiety, or other people s suffering. [V n to n] ...the language that is used to… …   English dictionary

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